Rolling ring for reels



Jan. 10, 1950 F. R. SCHAEFER ROLLING RING FOR REELS Filed Sept. 23, 1947 INVENTOR. F/PEDF/P/CA PULZMA/Y/VSCf/AEFD? ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 10, 1950 ROLLING RING FOR REELS Frederick Rullmann Schaeier, Youngstown, Ohio,

assignor to Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 23, 1947, Serial No. 775,618

8 Claims. (Cl. 242-123) The present invention relates generally to rol1er-type reels or spools and is more particularly concerned with a novelreel for carrying cable, wire and the like.

Heavy duty reels of this type are made up of hubs and discs or heads attached thereto near or at the ends of the hubs. Normally these reels are provided around the peripheries of the heads with means defining grooves for engagement with driving or braking belts or wheels employed in loading and unloading the reels. Attempts have been made to shape the peripheral portions of the heads themselves to produce the grooves, but this construction was too weak to bear the forces applied by the driving or braking means or the weight of the loaded reel during transit and handling, unless the heads were made of expensive and heavy gauge material. Another proposed solution to the problem involved the use of a spe cially shaped ring attached to a reel head to-define therewith the required groove in the outer edge of the reel. In order to make the connection between the parts suihciently strong to withstand the stresses encountered in use, it was necessary to provide a number of supports and braces for the separate ring elements. This involved deforming and punching out each head at many points around its circumference, which was an expensive operation and also tended to weaken the head.

In accordance with my invention, it is possible to provide grooves in lightweight heavy duty reels in a manner which may be both economical and rapid. This invention, in fact, enables the realization of a combination of advantages which have not obtained in any previous reels. For one thing. my reels do not require that the heads be deformed or punched out and weakened. Additionally, securing bonds between the various elements of my reels may be easily and rapidly made so that their manufacture will entail a minimum of labor cost, particularly as compared to riveted reels. A further important advantage of my reels over any heretofore known is their unusual strength and stability, especially in the peripheral portions of the discs, which is attributable to the fact that channels comprising the peripheral grooves are locked in, in addition to being welded to, the heads. Moreover these channels, unlike prior groove defining means, may be particularly resistant to wear by abrasive surfaces such as pavements.

Further advantages of my invention, as well as details of its construction, will become apparent to those skilled in the art on referring to the following description and the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is an end view of a reel embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the reel of Fig. 1 taken on line 2-2 thereof; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the edge portion of the reel taken on lin 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Briefly described, a reel of this invention comprises a central portion or hub, two discs or heads secured to the hub near its ends, and a channelshaped ring secured to each head and extending around its circumference with flanges extending radially outwardly from the head.

The illustrated device more specifically comprises a cylindrical hub or drum Ill, a pair of fabricated sheet metal heads H, and an annular rolled metal channel, annulus or ring 13 attached alongits central portion to the peripheral portion of each head with its flanges extending radially outwardly from the head. Each of the heads is composed of three sheet metal elements, via, a disc It, a ring :5 and a reinforcing member 86. Disc it has an axial aperture I! to receive trunnions or a shaft (not shown) upon which the reel may be supported for loading or unloading and has two other openings I 8 to receive pins of a driving mechanism for rotating the reel during such operations. The edge portion I 9 of the disc may be folded back for purposes subsequently to be described, and adjacent to said edge portion the disc has four or any number spaced apart relatively shallow depressions for engagement with ring it by means of spot welds.

Ring It has an inner flange 20 for overlapping engagement with the end of drum Ill to which it is secured by spot welds, and an outer flange 2! for similar engagement with channel 13, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the ring and channel being spot welded together at a plurality of points along the central or web portion of the channel.

The reinforcing. member is is an elongated metal strip having three openings for registry with those in disc It and is welded at a plurality of points to said disc to reinforce that element, particularly in the vicinity of the openings I 7, l8.

Rings it have flanges of unequal length, the short flange in each case being disposed adjacent to the outer face of its head. The ends of each of these rings may be welded together, preferably after the ring has been rolled on and welded to the outer flange of disc ii. The rinlfl are further secured to the heads by folding or crimping the outer flange portions l9 and II of the discs and rings over the outer flange of rings l3, thus equalizing the length of the flanges of the rings 13.

From the foregoing description it will bear)- parent that the construction of the reels of my invention may be rapid and economical, because of the ease with which the necessary connections may be made and because of the simplicity of the elements comprising the assembly. Moreover, each element may be mass produced and the incorporation of the various elements into the finished reel may readily be reduced to assembly line routine. The sequence of the operations in accordance with my preferred practice is first to spot weld channel Hi to the outer flange of rings l and spot weld the inner flange to the ends of the drum, then to weld reinforcing members IE to discs 14 and to spot weld said discs to the flanges on the end of the drum and to ring ii at each of the depressions thereby closing the heads, and finally to crimp the outer edges of the rings and discs overthe outer flanges of the rings l3.

Having thus described the invention so that others skilled in the art may be able to understand and practice the same, I state that what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads spaced apart and secured to the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a rolled metal channel having flanges extending radially outwardly from its head to define an annular groove, and said heads overlapping and enclosing portions of said rings.

2. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads spaced apart and secured to the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a metal channel having a web portion engaging a head and having flanges extending radially outwardly from said head to define an annular groove, and said heads overlapping and enclosing flange portions of said 35 A reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet ,metal heads spaced apart and secured to the hub,

and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a shaped metal channel having flanges extending radially outwardly from its head to define an annular groove, and said heads having peripheral portions crimpingly engaging said rings.

4. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads spaced apart and secured to the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a formed metal channel having flanges of unequal length extending radially outwardly from said head, and said heads each having a peripheral portion crimped over the short flange of its ring, thereby to secure the head and ring together.

5. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads secured to ends of the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a rolled metal channel having a web portion and having flanges extending radially outwardly from its head to deflne an annular groove, and said heads each having an axially extending peripheral portion bearing firmly against the web portion of its ring.

6. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads secured to ends of the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a rolled metal channel having a web portion and having flanges extending radially outwardly from its head to define an annular groove, and said heads each having an axially extending peripheral portion bearing firmly against the web portion of its rin and having another portion extending over and crimpingly engaging one flange of said ring.

7. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads secured to ends of the hub, and rings secured to the heads and extending around the periphery of each head, said rings each comprising a rolled metal channel having a web portion and having flanges of unequal length extending radially outwardly from its disc to define an annular groove, and said heads each having an axially extending peripheral portion bearing firmly against the web portion of its ring and having another portion extending over and crlmpingly engaging one flange of said ring and equalizing the length of the flanges oi the ring.

8. A heavy duty reel comprising a sheet metal hub, sheet metal heads secured to the hub at its ends, each head comprising a disc extending across the end of the hub and secured thereto, a ring spaced from the disc and connected to the hub, said disc and ring having axially extending, telescoping flanges near their outer edges, and an annulus extendin around and seated on the outer surface of one of said flanges, the outer extremities of both of said flanges being folded over and overlapping and enclosing a part of said annulus to maintain it in place.

FREDERICK RULLMANN SCHAEF'ER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 433,885 Boynton Aug. 5, 1890 1,066,609 Hastings July 8, 1913 1,143,541 Hubbard June 15, 1915 1,428,970 Mossberg Sept. 12, 1922 

